Oilers lose 3-0 ...Game Over

No one outplays STL. They adhere to that system through thick and thin. They don't have the personnel to win shootouts by opening up. Even when they lose to ANA and CHI I find that they have the puck the whole time

I'm no big fan of MC79 but man did he ever nail it in that blog.
Reading through the PGT yesterday I was prompted to go to the CHED audiovault to listen to just how bad Tencer's show was last night ... and it was bad.
That post game show (and unfortunately Rob Brown has to be included here) was terribly disappointing to fans who care about this team. I was so furious with the apologizing going on in that broadcast that I was considering putting together some of the quotes and writing a post similar to the blog MC79 posted. But then I thought, **** it because it was after midnight and why waste good energy on a team that obviously doesn't care what the fans think. So I am very glad that MC79 put that blog post up, and I urge fans here who may not have listened to the CHED postgame show last night to go to the audiovault page and check it out.

I think what Tencer and Brown don't understand (and I can't fathom why they wouldn't understand this) is that the fans aren't mad that the team lost to the Blues last night. They are mad that this team is losing for the sixth or seventh straight season and management/ownership seems to have no response other than to throw out some meaningless quotes for use in the next episode of Oil Change.

Fans are tired of the losers running this show. We are tired of the owner who is running this franchise into the ground while threatening the city with various dire consequences if he doesn't get the new arena he feels he deserves after a tenure as owner that could be described as nothing less that disastrous.

Not only should we be booing this sadsack team, we should start booing at the drop of the first puck. Why wait? This group of losers deserves to be booed whenever they are seen in public. The tools running this show need to know that just because they don't have any pride in the sweater that doesn't mean the fans are lapping up the **** they are selling.

Tencer and Brown claim the boos "help" the opposition get fired up. Fine - actually great. I honestly don't care if this team wins another game until Tamby gets fired. Let the boos rain down and let the opposition revel in them. This collection of losers wearing Oilers jerseys aren't worth cheering for. And everyone associated with the organization needs to understand that in the clearest way possible.

Mowzie made a post above that didn't get much notice. He said he called into CHED and asked about the lazy Oiler's practice he watched, and how he wondered why a team as bad as the Oilers wouldn't be practicing a whole lot harder than what he witnessed. I happened to hear that call and I couldn't believe the way Tencer scoffed the notion away. And then to hear the same radio host come out and say that this team is trying hard enough - and to have the captain say "its not like anyone in the room has given up" .... well, these are just insults added to injury.

Props to Disgruntled Goat for his excellent post above as well.

This supremely disappointing season has pushed you over the edge man. I'm right there with you.

This supremely disappointing season has pushed you over the edge man. I'm right there with you.

How is this season "supermely disappointing"? If you expected to make the playoffs, you should feel embarassed. At least we're playing in meaningful games. That has happened in 7 years. We're still developing.

How is this season "supermely disappointing"? If you expected to make the playoffs, you should feel embarassed. At least we're playing in meaningful games. That has happened in 7 years. We're still developing.

Ugh.

No. But I expected them to be better than last year and they're not. They had a better record after 30 games last year and were scoring goals at a stronger pace. Don't let the fact that they're in the *cough* playoff race fool you. It's an illusion based on all of the inter-conference games and shortened schedule.

If you're not upset with the lack of progress then I question your pulse.

What upsets me is that this team had a legitimate chance at making the playoffs this year but it really feels like the management has no desire to get there this year. It's almost like a memo went down the line and said, "Playoffs are not priority this year, we're still looking for another high pick to round out the D". This would explain why there is no 'cavalry coming', the disinterest from the players and the unwillingness to make any proper changes that we all see needed.

Next year is the year we want to make the playoffs. At least it better be. Who knows maybe Edmonton really is getting impatient with all of this. I do find it insulting that they are questioning our patience in all of this considering we went 7 years of hell and bleakness. They can't honestly be that blind to why fans are pissed after being in a race for a playoff spot and blowing it 4-5 times over. After how long we've put up with this crap??

The LAST thing Katz, Lowe, and his circus of clowns need is to have their fans turn on them for not at least acknowledging our patience and support and instead blaming us the minute we show frustration. Other teams get full page newspaper ads apologizing, can anyone tell me if Edmonton fans get the same respect?? Or are we at the "lucky to have a team" level of respect?

What upsets me is that this team had a legitimate chance at making the playoffs this year but it really feels like the management has no desire to get there this year. It's almost like a memo went down the line and said, "Playoffs are not priority this year, we're still looking for another high pick to round out the D". This would explain why there is no 'cavalry coming', the disinterest from the players and the unwillingness to make any proper changes that we all see needed.

Next year is the year we want to make the playoffs. At least it better be. Who knows maybe Edmonton really is getting impatient with all of this. I do find it insulting that they are questioning our patience in all of this considering we went 7 years of hell and bleakness. They can't honestly be that blind to why fans are pissed after being in a race for a playoff spot and blowing it 4-5 times over. After how long we've put up with this crap??

The LAST thing Katz, Lowe, and his circus of clowns need is to have their fans turn on them for not at least acknowledging our patience and support and instead blaming us the minute we show frustration. Other teams get full page newspaper ads apologizing, can anyone tell me if Edmonton fans get the same respect?? Or are we at the "lucky to have a team" level of respect?

The organization hasn't promised or apologized for anything over the past 4, let alone 7 years. All we get is the opportunity to buy the next WizKid's jersey and episodes of Oil Change... and when you watch that show you would think that it's about the Blackhawks or something.

Some people saw a team that made little effort, but I saw a team that was sorrily mismatched. A team of young kids playing against rugged professionals.

I did think the effort was there, but they were completely out-classed in terms of size and strength. Most of the disappointment comes from all the Koolaid that people have been drinking around here. They stunk. Yes, they did. So what?

It takes 5 years for kids to play like professionals. Gagner finally turned the corner this year after ... surprise, his 5th year in the NHL. Well-wishing doesn't speed up the clock. Sure other teams have had their first rounders win cups early (see Chicago, Boston and Pittsburgh), but they had veteran teams and a couple of kids.

This team is going to suck some more before it turns the corner. Get used to it. You would think this forum is filled with a junior high school drama club will all the crying and moaning going on here.

If you can't take it, quit watching it.

People came to blog the HF Boards Oiler fans, not this bunch of puhssies.

Some people saw a team that made little effort, but I saw a team that was sorrily mismatched. A team of young kids playing against rugged professionals.

I did think the effort was there, but they were completely out-classed in terms of size and strength. Most of the disappointment comes from all the Koolaid that people have been drinking around here. They stunk. Yes, they did. So what?

It takes 5 years for kids to play like professionals. Gagner finally turned the corner this year after ... surprise, his 5th year in the NHL. Well-wishing doesn't speed up the clock. Sure other teams have had their first rounders win cups early (see Chicago, Boston and Pittsburgh), but they had veteran teams and a couple of kids.

This team is going to suck some more before it turns the corner. Get used to it. You would think this forum is filled with a junior high school drama club will all the crying and moaning going on here.

If you can't take it, quit watching it.

People came to blog the HF Boards Oiler fans, not this bunch of puhssies.

So what happens when they don't turn the corner in the next couple years? How long should fans have to put up with incompetent management?

I knew before I turned on the game exactly what was going to happen: give up an early stupid goal, get outshot, fail to generate any offense, gift the Blues one of the easiest road wins they'll get all season.

Does anyone else not even care anymore?

The last few years, as bad as the team was, there were a couple of things that kept me interested:

1. Watching the young players develop.

2. Speculating on what kind of moves could be made to improve the roster.

1. I'm not going to go all, 'all our players suck, let's trade everyone' but my patience is running out on #1. I understand development is not linear (I've always been a Gagner supporter) but is anyone else starting to wonder why we can't just have one player hit star status? This team has three first overall picks and two other guys that are basicall top five talents. . . and we're still waiting and watching for them to emerge.

Anyone else think that won't happen in Edmonton? When was the last time the Oilers actually had a legit, top-flight talent? And don't say Pronger. . . he wasn't actually that good until the playoffs. And Weight was great, but was he ever a top 20 player in the league? So we're going back to what? Messier? That was 20 years ago. Is there another team in the league that hasn't managed to have one legit franchise player in that timeframe? When was the last time a player so much as met expectations here? Ryan Smyth? Shawn Horcoff? Its ****ing pathetic.

I don't even CARE about winning anymore. That's obviously too much to ask with this franchise. I'd settle for just having one player step in, play well, get better, emerge as a star-type player. Hall? Nope, he gets injured every year and the team has completely failed to surround with any kind of suport that might mitigate or change his bad habits. Eberle? Nope, sucks this year. RNH? I thought he might be the guy but nope, now he's worse than Gagner ever was. Yakupov? Worst rookie season by a first overall since Erik Johnson.

And please, don't tell me to be patient. Toews. Kane. Tavares. Stamkos. Karlsson. It happens. This 'patience' thing has become a by-product of cheering for an incompetent failure of a franchise that drags every single player down into a blackhole of suck. If you just look around the league, it doesn't take long to realize; it doesn't have to be this way.

Seriously. Just think about this for a second. This franchise has not developed a single star player in twenty years. Not one. Forget about the playoffs, or Stanley Cups, or farm teams, or winning systems, or organizational cultures for one second. You know, all those 'big picture' things that we hope to see happen at some point.

Not. One. Star. Player. Twenty ****ing years. Jesus Christ, they negotiated peace in Northern Ireland since then. That's incredible, unprecedented levels of incomptency. To look at that and expect this franchise to compete for, much less win, a Stanley Cup? Build a winning culture? Develop four lines that can contribute? They can't even develop ONE player.

2. What's the point? There's too many holes on this team to even bother. And we are still SO thin in tradeable assets. I mean, what is there that could be moved? Hemsky? Gagner? Paajarvi? Moving any of those would just create another hole that management would be too incompetent to fill. And didn't we have all those assests back in 2010 when this rebuild allegedly started? What happened to all these prospects we were going to develop? When is this 'second wave' going to hit, and we're going to start seeing all this competition for jobs we've been promised? Does anyone still think that Pitlick, Hamilton, Lander, Marincin are going to accomplish anything in Edmonton?

What, as a fan, can you look at with this team and say, 'well, at least we have that'? Toughness? No. Scoring? No. Defense? No. Goaltending? No. Depth? No. Star players? No. Leadership? No. There's nothing. This team is good at nothing! And its been like that for seven years now!

And is there any hope for improvement? Tambellini can't even find a decent fourth-line winger. Really think about that for a second, too. A fourth-line winger. Teams grab those guys in free agency. Teams pluck those guys from the minors. We've gone through Stortini, MacIntyre, Hordichuk, Eager and now Brown, and none of them have been any good. This should be the easiest thing in hockey to do!

And what an abortion that fourth line is, anyway: a non-descript checking winger, a mediocre middleweight tough guy that does nothing, and an over-the-hill alleged checking center who is as soft as butter. That's brutal. I'm so tired of this team just jamming players into positions with no thought or foresight or plan, and then watching them fail. If Ryan Whitney gets traded to Detroit. . . does anyone see him being anything but successful? No, of course he'll be successful! Because Detroit will recognize him for the player he is, and put him in a position to succeed. They'll play him with a defense partner that can compensate for his weaknesses. They'll play him an appropriate amount of minutes in an appropriate role. Why can this never happen in Edmonton, ever? We haven't had a first-line center since Weight. We haven't had a legit goalie since Joseph. We haven't had a structured, capable checking line since MGM. We have never built a line of complimentary players around Hemsky. We haven't even had a decent third defense pairing since, what? Greene and Tarnstrom or something?

Forget the fact that Tambellini is incapable of making any kind of moves. I'm not sure this team is even capable of identifying what the problems are! 'You have this hole on the roster, you need this type of player to fill it'. . . do they even think like that? I don't know that there's any evidence that they do.

Does anyone think Smid will actually get signed to a reasonable deal? Nope, one of two things will happen: They'll either **** around and lose him for nothing, or they'll sign him to way too much money because Tambo knows he's incapable of replacing anyone or anything, and will overvalue him as a result. That's how things work in Edmonton.

What a brual, exhausting, frustrating franchise to be a fan of. You guys that are posting here a 100 times a day, and still suggesting trades and talking about what guys we should draft. . . I commend you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harpoon

I'm no big fan of MC79 but man did he ever nail it in that blog.
Reading through the PGT yesterday I was prompted to go to the CHED audiovault to listen to just how bad Tencer's show was last night ... and it was bad.
That post game show (and unfortunately Rob Brown has to be included here) was terribly disappointing to fans who care about this team. I was so furious with the apologizing going on in that broadcast that I was considering putting together some of the quotes and writing a post similar to the blog MC79 posted. But then I thought, **** it because it was after midnight and why waste good energy on a team that obviously doesn't care what the fans think. So I am very glad that MC79 put that blog post up, and I urge fans here who may not have listened to the CHED postgame show last night to go to the audiovault page and check it out.

I think what Tencer and Brown don't understand (and I can't fathom why they wouldn't understand this) is that the fans aren't mad that the team lost to the Blues last night. They are mad that this team is losing for the sixth or seventh straight season and management/ownership seems to have no response other than to throw out some meaningless quotes for use in the next episode of Oil Change.

Fans are tired of the losers running this show. We are tired of the owner who is running this franchise into the ground while threatening the city with various dire consequences if he doesn't get the new arena he feels he deserves after a tenure as owner that could be described as nothing less that disastrous.

Not only should we be booing this sadsack team, we should start booing at the drop of the first puck. Why wait? This group of losers deserves to be booed whenever they are seen in public. The tools running this show need to know that just because they don't have any pride in the sweater that doesn't mean the fans are lapping up the **** they are selling.

Tencer and Brown claim the boos "help" the opposition get fired up. Fine - actually great. I honestly don't care if this team wins another game until Tamby gets fired. Let the boos rain down and let the opposition revel in them. This collection of losers wearing Oilers jerseys aren't worth cheering for. And everyone associated with the organization needs to understand that in the clearest way possible.

Mowzie made a post above that didn't get much notice. He said he called into CHED and asked about the lazy Oiler's practice he watched, and how he wondered why a team as bad as the Oilers wouldn't be practicing a whole lot harder than what he witnessed. I happened to hear that call and I couldn't believe the way Tencer scoffed the notion away. And then to hear the same radio host come out and say that this team is trying hard enough - and to have the captain say "its not like anyone in the room has given up" .... well, these are just insults added to injury.

Props to Disgruntled Goat for his excellent post above as well.

Props to DG and to you as well Harpoon.
Its posts like these that make this board worthwhile.

I also have to say that I thought that MC79's post was right on the mark.

Quote:

Oilers have a history here: six years of ranging from not good enough to brutal. They’ve just taken a homestand that could have vaulted them into the heart of the playoff race and given it away, with two blown third period leads. It is infuriating and I’m not even a guy paying hundreds of dollars a night to be there.

Oiler players and media guys might find it easier to stay out of trouble if they adopt the mental mindset that this team is owed nothing by the fans right now. They’ve been horrible for seven years and they’ve used up their goodwill. If they’d like to be able to say that they expect the fans not to boo them off the ice, maybe they should prove that they aren’t one of the league’s worst teams. Again and again and again and again and again and again and again.

St Louis just lost to CGY....so there goes the St Louis being an incredible team theory for why we lost. We stunk.

Also, management does not want the playoffs, they want a chance at the top pick AGAIN.

Here come the excuses....

Cue the "Calgary had it easier because it was the Blues 2nd game in 2 nights" crowd.

Hitch knows how to beat this team...he always has.
Right back to the Dallas days when he posted on the Dressing Room white board before a game with the Oilers...."Check and hit until they spit the bit". (I am paraphrasing a little here)

The Oilers always spit the bit with a little pressure...thats just how this team rolls.

St Louis just lost to CGY....so there goes the St Louis being an incredible team theory for why we lost. We stunk.

Did you watch the game? Calgary was dominated. Outshot 38-17. They got even more outplayed than the Oilers did by the Blues. Reminded me of the game the Oil won against Columbus earlier this year despite getting outshot by like 25 shots. If you're looking for a single game to demonstrate that the Blues are not a very good team, tonight's match against the Flames is not the one you want.

Did you watch the game? Calgary was dominated. Outshot 38-17. They got even more outplayed than the Oilers did by the Blues. Reminded me of the game the Oil won against Columbus earlier this year despite getting outshot by like 25 shots. If you're looking for a single game to demonstrate that the Blues are not a very good team, tonight's match against the Flames is not the one you want.

Solid goaltending, generate chances and bury them.

Just happened to be the 3 things the Oilers were not able to accomplish.

Did you watch the game? Calgary was dominated. Outshot 38-17. They got even more outplayed than the Oilers did by the Blues. Reminded me of the game the Oil won against Columbus earlier this year despite getting outshot by like 25 shots. If you're looking for a single game to demonstrate that the Blues are not a very good team, tonight's match against the Flames is not the one you want.

I don't think CGY got more outplayed than we did, they won.
I'd argue that 3 goals is better than 0 in anyone's system but Krueger's.

Anyways I didn't mean that St Louis wasn't very good, just that them being "very good" is no excuse for us losing. A lesser team just beat them.

tbh it sounds more like a saw off they you might think. Seems almost an equivalent amount of players having good years and fallback years.

As a club there hasn't been significant regression or improvement. I do think playing exclusively against WC foes hasn't helped our cause. Also that there is no hopelessly bad teams this year that we can pad pts on. The WdC is playing better hockey this year and due to shortened games and all games being more important theres less nights where opponents are taking the game off.

First time I've heard this, re: playing inside WC only may have had an adverse affect. A 9 game road trip is not the norm. Especially in a shortened season. Starting to sound like Tencer eh.

I'm no big fan of MC79 but man did he ever nail it in that blog.
Reading through the PGT yesterday I was prompted to go to the CHED audiovault to listen to just how bad Tencer's show was last night ... and it was bad.

Mowzie made a post above that didn't get much notice. He said he called into CHED and asked about the lazy Oiler's practice he watched, and how he wondered why a team as bad as the Oilers wouldn't be practicing a whole lot harder than what he witnessed. I happened to hear that call and I couldn't believe the way Tencer scoffed the notion away. And then to hear the same radio host come out and say that this team is trying hard enough - and to have the captain say "its not like anyone in the room has given up" .... well, these are just insults added to injury.

I just can't fathom their reply, Brown honestly wants to make a point on how Edmonton is compared to Detroit, Vancouver and San Jose as if we're gaining ground on them? San Jose has been one of the league's worst teams after their 7 game win streak, Vancouver up until recently has been average at best, and Detroit lost Lidstrom... For him to try and pretend like those teams are still dominant forces and we are catching up to them is absolutely idiotic.

My point about the practice, I got the "privilege" of watching an Oilers practice on Tuesday afternoon by winning one of the 93 jerseys. I don't watch tons of practices, so I have nothing to compare it to, but what I seen out there was 3 really nice coaches running an intensity and urgency free practice. I find it frustrating that while feeding us this "playoff drive" crap, that the practice was so bland. If this was a team that came out in games with lots of energy and controlled the pace, I wouldn't worry, but watching this predominantly reactionary team practice so casually makes me think there are teams in other cities that have a sense of urgency in their routine, and those teams, presumably are gonna be the teams in the stretch drive that beat us and take the last couple playoff spots we covet.

How this team runs with a short-handed coaching staff is beyond me. For a team deficient in EVERY possible category that makes excuses about shortened seasons and lack of preparation time, I can't help but think one extra coach may be of SOME benefit.